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OrlandoSentinel.com An intoxicated New Smyrna Beach bicyclist was arrested and charged with resisting an officer with violence in an early morning incident at a Taco Bell drive-through,The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.

Police arrived at the Taco Bell at 3:10 a.m. and found Gabriel Harris, 33, on a bicycle by the restaurant's menu speaker, according to the police report.

An employee called New Smyrna Beach police when Harris refused to leave the property after placing a drive-through order on his bicycle as the fast food restaurant was closing.

As police were asking Harris to leave, they noticed a pocket knife on his belt loop. When an officer reached for it, Harris grabbed the officer's wrist and Harris was wrestled to the ground, handcuffed and arrested.

Harris was with a woman, Sarah Haliburton, at the time of the incident. Both were intoxicated, according to the report. Haliburton was not charged.

Last Updated on Friday, 21 November 2014 13:23

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Thursday, 20 November 2014 12:21

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Florida's 'Growler' Ban Unconstitutional, Lawsuit Claims

Wednesday, 29 October 2014 10:56

Sunshinestatenews.com - Florida is violating the United States Constitution by arbitrarily banning restaurants, taverns, and breweries from selling or filling the most popular portable jug for craft beers -- the half-gallon (64-ounce) growler.

That's according to a civil rights lawsuit filed today in federal court on behalf of the owners of a downtown Stuart craft beer restaurant, The Crafted Keg. The lawsuit was filed by the national free-enterprise legal organization, Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF)."It should be an interesting suit as we are fairly certain that this is the first courtroom challenge to the growler ban," said Kate Pomeroy, PLF's Washington, D.C., media director.

PLF always gets its man, so to speak," retired Orange County attorney Sanford R. Craig told Sunshine State News. Craig was part of a legal team that unsuccessfully opposed PLF a few years ago. "The state is in for a fight on this one."Continue

Music Industry Sues Restaurant over Music!

Wednesday, 29 October 2014 10:52

Gothamist.com -Unless it's blasting out your ear drums, music at restaurants usually fades into the background noise of clattering plates and sauced patrons' boisterous laughs. Even so, a group representing license holders for the music industry wants restaurants to pony up cash to play music at their establishments and they're suing to make it happen. Nine restaurants on Long Island are facing lawsuits from ASCAP, which represents 500,000 musicians and publishers, reports Newsday. You can't play Jackson Browne's "Somebody's Baby" without throwing money to the song's writers.

According to the lawsuits, the restaurants were observed playing copyrighted material without obtaining the proper licenses to do so. Federal law states that any commercial establishment wanting to play copyrighted music in any form must first obtain the correct license that would pay out royalties to whomever deserves them. In the case of Digger's, The Homestead, BobbiQue and six other Long Island eateries, this didn't happen, despite numerous reminders from organizations representing the musicians. Eightyearsworth of reminders. Continue

Restaurant Launches fight against Yelp reviews.

Sunday, 21 September 2014 13:49

KTVU.com - The owners of Richmond’s Botto Bistro have had it with reviews on the Yelp website so they are asking customers to give them just one star.

Chefs and co-owners Davide Cerretini and Michele Massimo have even posted a sign on the door of the restaurant offering discounts for bad reviews.

“Hate us on Yelp,” the sign reads. “Write ONESTAR review for Botto on Yelp and get an immediate 25 percent off any pizza & get free tickets to our cooking classes.”

Cerretini told the San Francisco Chronicle he has grown tired of the constant calls from Yelp trying to sell him advertising.

Baltimoresun.com - The owners of two popular restaurants in downtown Baltimore have agreed to pay $1.3 million and establish new hiring measures to settle a years-old lawsuit alleging racial discrimination against black applicants and employees.

nypost.com -The famed Sparks Steakhouse in Midtown steakhouse has a beef with an Internet troll who posed as former worker at the eatery — claiming on Yelp.com that he “personally spit saliva into dishes,” a new lawsuit claims.

The storied eatery — where Gambino mobster Paul Castellano was famously gunned down in 1985 — is demanding the online review site reveal the name of the user who posted the “malicious and defamatory” comment, according to court documents filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Sept. 8. Continue

Florida restaurant connected to data breach!

Thursday, 11 September 2014 09:49

Mysuncoast.com - North Port Police say there have been several complaints of unauthorized credit card transactions appearing on financial statements. Various vendors in Texas, New York and Massachusetts have been linked to these purchases.

At least four Florida Beef O'Brady's restaurant locations have been potentially compromised, with credit and debit card information being stolen.

With the help of the United States Secret Service, the North Port Police Department's Economic Crimes Unit, they were able to determine the source was a data breach within the Beef O'Brady's electronic payment network.

Police say one of the four locations is the restaurant located at 1037 Sumter Boulevard in North Port. Police did not immediately have the other three restaurant addresses available. Continue

Restaurant Show a Big Success!

Thursday, 11 September 2014 09:44

Bizjournals.com - Everything from potstickers to stoneware was featured in the restaurateur's wish list known as the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show. The companies that support Florida's $71.8 billion hospitality industry gathered at theOrange County Convention CenterSept. 7-9. And Orlando companies were well in the mix.

Another local business and first-time attendee,drink mix company Bungalow 23, was also having a busy time on the convention floor. "Everyone wants a drink, but there have been inquiries and interest," said co-ownerRick Ferrone, who mixed cocktails with the company's product: The ultimate portfolio piece. Continue

Businesses relying on international lenders, private equity!

Thursday, 11 September 2014 09:40

Dailybusinessreview.com -VooDoo BBQ & Grill is the house that foreign capital built.

The owners of the chain's Florida franchises say they've raised $40 million from investors in 12 countries through the EB-5 visa program, sprouting new locations in Miami, Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Pensacola.

Faced with a credit desert and stringent lending criteria as nearly 70 banks failed in Florida in the aftermath of the Great Recession, the New Orleans-style barbecue franchise had to look elsewhere.

The company found international lenders and cash-rich private equity firms to be the big-money lenders and backers of South Florida's most lucrative commercial deals.

"We're not where we were in '04 or '05 when anybody could get a loan, but the appetite from financial institutions is increasing," said Israel Alfonso, a Miami partner in Akerman, whose annual real estate survey measures economic conditions and investor confidence.

For VooDoo, the new wave of investment followed a tedious and futile fundraising drive in the U.S.